All About French Seams

How much thought do we really put into seaming?

Seams do more than hold our garments together.  They are what gives us the shape of the garment.

There are many methods of seaming.  When using a serger we don't think much about it.  Sew up our seam and overcast using the serger and we are done.  At least this is what I have been doing for a long, long time now.

But I do have a few favorite methods that I think are worth considering.

My favorite one is the French seam.  A French seam may be used in sheer fabrics, blouses, children's clothing and in lingerie.

Before sergers a French seam was highly used.  In todays world a French seam is found only in higher end clothing.

I will take you through the steps for constructing a French seam.

When sewing a French seam the first thing is to sew a regular 1/4" seam.   Unlike regular

seaming you sew this seam wrong sides together.

 Trim to 1/8".    

Then press the seam as sewn.  Still wrong sides together.

At this point press the 1/8" seam open.  Right side of fabric will be facing upwards.

Place right sides of the fabric together.  Fold on the stitching line and then press again.

Now stitch on the seam line incasing the 1/8" seam inside.  At this point you will have right sides together.

This is what it will look like from the wrong side. You will have a wonderful clean finish on the inside.  Without ever serging.

The outside of your fabric will look just as wonderful.

I hope this helps to show you a little of what sewers used to do before we had sergers.  Of course I would not give up my serger yet!

Next week I will show you my next favorite seaming method.

Until next time happy French seaming!